By Kyle Klingman, W.I.N. Columnist
Back in 1974, when Wade Schalles was attempting to earn college career pin No. 100, he wanted it to be special. At least his fraternity brothers at Clarion did.
Under the guise of civic duty, Schalles’ fraternity held a fundraiser for charity if he could pin his opponent from Lock Haven on a tiny X made with medical tape placed discretely on the mat. Unbeknownst to Bob Bubb, the head coach at Clarion at the time, Schalles did just that.
When Schalles hooked up his notorious cradle he was quite a distance from the mark. So when he began dragging his opponent across the mat to reach the magic spot the sellout crowd got louder and louder as Schalles approached the X.
In the process of getting his 100th pin, the taped X rolled up on the back of his defeated foe’s neck with no trace of the tape to be found. This left Schalles with a convenient alibi when his straight-laced coach found out what was going on.
“What X coach?” asked Schalles when questioned about the stunt he had just pulled.
This type of confidence to get a pin whenever and wherever he wanted was the norm rather than the exception for Schalles. He oftentimes placed side bets with friends predicting the period and place he would dispatch of a foe. Known as “Wondrous Wade,” Schalles became a legend by doing things that were considered out of bounds by traditional wrestling authority. Schalles lived on the fringes and made the unfeasible a reality.
“His style was so interesting,” said Stan Zeamer, a former assistant coach at Clarion. “He was so sure of himself in his unwavering belief to pin. That’s what always amazed me about Wade.
“He packed the place when he wrestled. Everybody knew that sooner or later he was going to pin the guy and it didn’t matter who it was. That’s why he packed the place. He destroyed a lot of kids’ confidence that were great wrestlers. He was a pinning warrior.”
Yet to look at Schalles, the term warrior does not readily come to mind. Medical doctor? Maybe. Accountant? Perhaps. Math wizard? Definitely. Pinning warrior? This guy? You can’t be serious.
I am serious. A career record of 153-5-1 with 106 pins (and the first to reach 100) coupled with a style that was considered revolutionary made Schalles an enigmatic personality in a sport known for its ferocity and seriousness. Looks aside, this guy was lethal on the mat.
Fast forward to today. Another unimpressive looking wrestler is making waves at the college level. A self-descried doughboy with little to no muscle tone, Missouri’s Ben Askren doesn’t fit the mold of the chiseled and powerful athlete that typifies a wrestler.
Yet Askren, with his unimposing physique, is putting up Schalles-type numbers with a flair that’s all his own. Askren already landed career pin No. 85 and if things go right he could move into the No. 3 spot on the all-time pin list right behind Schalles.
This year alone the Tiger senior has amassed a 30-0 record with 23 pins. And he’s going about it in such a way that Schalles did in the 70s … with flash, flair and a relentless pursuit of wrestling’s knockout punch.
And he’s creating a buzz all across the nation. I mean really, how many people make ESPN’s Sports Center for getting a haircut? Thirty years from now, people are going to look at the photograph of the 2006 NCAA champions and say, “That Askren, he was a crazy dude.”
Note: Askren was wearing black house slippers between sessions at the NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals this year.
When Askren moved up a weight to wrestle Roger Kish at 184 pounds at the National Duals this year, the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls was electric. Yet, Askren broke one of wrestling’s cardinal rules in the process: Never show emotion until you have the match won. Because in wrestling, anything can happen.
Prior to the start of his match with the second-ranked Gopher, Askren began waving his arms up and down to get the crowd into the match. Although his 5-4 win wasn’t exactly what he predicted (I was told that Askren was taunting Kish on the sidelines by telling him he was going to get a pin), he gave those fans in attendance a memory they won’t soon forget.
“I was fired up before the match but when the match started I tried to be stone faced,” said Askren “I’m not afraid to show emotion before and after my matches. I’m out there doing what I enjoy. It’s my passion and I’m going to show emotion.
“I’ve worked 365 days a year to develop my wrestling style, but I only get seven minutes to show what I can do. To me that’s not enough. I’d love to wrestle all day and show the world all the things I’ve developed. I’d love to do that but you only get seven minutes. I look forward to those seven minutes. I look forward to perform and show everyone what I’ve done. I enjoy that more than anything.”
I enjoy it too. That’s why I have already committed to making the six-hour drive down to Columbia, Mo., just so I can say that I watched Askren compete on his home turf. I just have to see this guy wrestle one last time before his career is over. Because I don’t know when or if someone like this is going to come around again.
You see Ben Askren is everything that is right with wrestling. Call him cocky. Call him brash. You can call him whatever you want, but the guy is great for the sport. Askren, the consummate showman, understands his audience and gives the people a reason to come back for more.
“People come to watch Askren entertain them,” said Schalles. “It’s the entertainment value that draws us to Ben Askren. But if we fail to pin, and that didn’t and doesn’t happen often, one never thought of us falling short. They just got to see more of the imagination that makes Ben and Wade, well, Ben and Wade.
“Usually you have the highs and lows that are associated with victory and defeat in wrestling. However, watching Ben Askren wrestle and watching me wrestle; we never lost because our fans never lost. The main reason they got out of their seats in the first place to walk down to the mat where we were on is that they wanted to be entertained; and we never disappointed.
“So why would people come to watch Ben or me? Because we do the impossible, or at least the improbable. It’s not really impossible or improbable, it’s what other people perceive to be impossible or improbable that we made possible. There were occasions where I may not have scored as many points as the other guy but I did entertain. I did the unusual and unique. I made wrestling fun to watch and fun for them. The sport’s fan didn’t come to watch me get my hand raised; they came to be entertained. Ben is doing the very same thing. He doesn’t know any other way, neither did I.
Inevitably, this question must be asked: Who would win should these two brash pinners meet in the world of mythical matchups?
“You know my confidence can’t let me down,” said Askren of a possible showdown with Schalles. “I would have beaten him. I have a lot of stuff he’s never seen before.”
As for Schalles’s opinion, “Isn’t the naivety of youth fun.”
No matter what the outcome, this would be a match they would be talking about for years to come. I would drive cross-country to see this match of wits and hair.
(Kyle Klingman is the associate director of the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum, located in Waterloo, Iowa. E-mail him at kyle.klingman@yahoo.com.) n